Albuquerque

We didn’t sleep well which is tough when the alarm is set for 4.50am. Nevertheless we were excited for the balloon trip that I had booked for an early 40th pressie for Rich. I’d only told him about it a few days ago.

We got there (a bit of land at the back of a Panda Express) and chatted to some of the other balloon goers. Once we had signed a form acknowledging that we could well die in a horrific ballooning accident, we took it in turns to hop gracefully (fall clumsily) into the rather compact basket.

Our pilot was Murray and he was awesome. The whole experience was magical. The sun was rising behind the mountains and we could watch the other balloons start rising behind us. The ride was smooth as anything and it was peaceful apart from the intermittent sound of the burner...and occasional dogs barking as it seems they particularly hate balloons. We chatted with a local guy Russell who was there with his son and some nice girls from Dallas took pictures of us together. Murray took us over the River and got us low enough that the basket touched the water - a ‘splash and dash’. We also went high over downtown Albuquerque- 8000ft above sea level. We were in a the air over an hour. As we were descending we watched a rival company land ahead of us. They missed the field and actually landed alarmingly in a road. Murray made sure to take lots of pictures. We landed perfectly in the field although fairly bumpy, we were prepared.

We then helped pack away the balloon with the chase crew and were driven back to the start for champagne and breakfast nibbles. And most importantly- a certificate.

So we were on a massive high - we were going to go back to the (still smelling of weed) motel but decided instead to see if we could find Los Pollos Hermanus from Bresking Bad. Turns out it’s on google maps so not hard to find. In reality it’s a branch of Twisters which does fast food style burritos etc.

We were massively excited to find that the Breaking bad RV tour had recently arrived so we got some trivia and also served by a guy in a ‘Gus’ mask. Was bizarre being inside somewhere that looked so familiar.

After driving back to the motel for a quick catnap, we walked to the ABQ botanical gardens which were lovely and we spent a good couple of hours there. Would have been longer but I am being plagued with back pain through this holiday and we had to go back so I could lie out for a minute.

After a rest and knocking back some painkillers we ended up back in Oldtown in the High Noon saloon. We sat at the bar chatting to another local and a couple from Louisiana who are here for a dance competition (country and western ballroom). It was recommended we stay for food so we did and we were not disappointed. Had some proper New Mexican cuisine. So much so that Rich didn’t have a clue what most of the stuff he was eating was. I had chicken and succotash...mainly because I thought succotash was something made up by Yosemite Sam. It is not.

What an awesome day

Back in the motel watching tv ready for another early start. Tomorrow another new state beckons!!!